Stealth. (FtM Karl)

Reflect

As you were all promised.
Some progress towards dnf for the next probably 10+ chapters ;)

- 3 weeks later-

Third person pov:

"Right. This is just getting ridiculous now." Sapnap glared, folding his arms as he leant back against the pastel blue walls. Though a small smirk found its way to the corners of his mouth.
He was unimpressed with his friend's answer to say the least.

The brunette opposite him made a number of odd hand gestures with a facial expression that can only be labelled as 'gay panic'.
"nO?¿ It MaKeS pErFeCt SeNsE!" He protested.

Nick sighed, "no. No it doesn't." He denied, "you're just making excuses."

George continued to awkwardly make nervous hand gestures, slapping the back off his left hand into his right palm, snapping his fingers, pointing whilst throwing his index finger up and down pointed in my general direction; you name it. The strange activity was only increasing in variety.
"What part of 'he doesn't like me back' don't you understand?" He asked, his voice a higher pitch and faster speed. Discrete yet noticeable.

The other teen sat in a dumbfounded state, staring in absolute awe at the boys audacity to dodge the very vital piece of the puzzle that Sapnap had gifted him only minutes ago, his face expressionless.
"Um, the part where I literally told you THAT HE LIKES YOU BACK??" He reminded.

"THAT DOESN'T COUNT!"
"WHAT DOYOU MEAN IT DOESN'T COUNT??!"

The teen made a few untranslatable high pitched sounds, he had no idea how to respond to that. It was true, he was completely dodging the confrontation of this apparently obvious crush that he had on his best friend.
Nick sighed again, "look, just because he can't say it out loud doesn't mean it's not true. I've been his best friend for pretty much his whole life, trust me, I know." He answered, his voice coloured with confidence and sympathy.

George went silent for a moment, completely still in his gaming chair except for his hands which fiddled with his own hoodie string. He stared at his hands.
"But you know what he went through..." he muttered.

The thought sent a shiver through the other teens soul, those words, the memories. It pained him.
He chose his next words carefully.
"I do. But that does not mean that he doesn't like you back. It just means that he needs a little help accepting it."

As silence once again engulfed the room, the now depressing mood was painfully apparent and both started to feel a bit uncomfortable discussing another persons trauma.
And so George spoke, "I think we both know he needs more time." Hoping maybe it would end there.

"I think time is making it worse." Nick confessed, "I hate to say it, but I've noticed that he gets too comfortable in that little, safe, hypothetical bubble that he's created around himself sometimes. And after a while, it gets smaller, and smaller, and eventually he can't step out." He stated.
There was silence again, but before George could speak, Sapnap started again, "I know for a fact that when he's with you, he's happier than he is with anyone else, including myself. I can see it." He says, "if anyone can help him through this, it's you."

"How the hell am I supposed to help him?" He asks, sounding lost and desperate. He hasn't taken his gaze away from his hands.

"By showing him that it's okay." He replies, "I think he needs to believe that for things to really get better." He theorises, "he trusts you."

Meanwhile, a boy stands at his sink. The crashing vocals of a many small water jets hitting the shower floor are completely drowned out of his mind, much like every other one of his senses.
All but touch and sight.
The hot water's steam starts to fog up a boarder around the reflective glass, the boys hand hovers over his disclosed face, lightly tracing the dented streak, tinted pink yet almost completely white, that trails down his face; through a clouded eye, one he can remember the pre-fogged colour to be just as much of a vibrant green as the other.

He frowns at his appearance, also at the fact that he cannot seem to remember what his face had once looked like, untainted by the trauma he faced years ago.

Memories of the incident circle his mind, but he decides not to dwell on it too much. Snapping himself out of the trance to continue his shower.
He leaves his mask beside the sink, the mirror above becoming completely blurred.